Twists and Lies
by True Love Lives Forever
Summary: Derek and Casey graduated from high school, went to UW, and everything seems normal... except for a secret of a lifetime they keep from everyone, but Dennis. What does he have to do with anything and how will their family react when the truth is revealed?


Disclaimer: I've lived through many changes in my life. However, for some reason which I can't quite put my finger on, _Life with Derek_ or any other shows which I like or even those that I don't like, still don't belong to me. Hmm, strange, don't you think? Well, in any case, I do own this story

Rating: T / PG-13 (I don't know ratings very well, but I think this fits and the story won't go much further. But if it does, let me know and I'll change the rating.) There will be some violence and weird situations in the later chapters, though not this one.

Setting: This story takes place two years after Casey and Derek graduate from high school

Summary: The life of Derek and Casey are completely normal after graduation… well, with the exception that they're hiding the biggest secret of their lives from everyone in their family, except for Casey's father. What does he have to do with anything? And what will happen when the rest of the family comes for a visit only to discover something that never even crossed their minds? Well, read on and find out.

Author Notes: English is my third language, and therefore, I know I'll have problems describing some scenes in the future that I have planned. Please forgive me if something is unclear and ask me. Then I'll try to explain what I meant better. Also, since I now live in America and don't know that much about Canada, I decided to make Casey and Derek move here as well in my story. Finally, in this story, Casey especially will seem out of character, or rather more like she has two different personalities. You'll see what I mean later. Okay, I'll shut up now.

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Twists and Lies

By: True Love Lives Forever

Chapter 1: Forgotten Visits

Oh, how nice it was to finally relax in the back seat of her father's SUV. Just kicking off her shoes for the first time since what seemed like forever felt like ascending into heaven. After all, it has been an extremely long and hard day. But then again, come to think of it, it has been this hectic for the past two years, give or take a few months.

Casey shifted her gaze from the tinted window at which she stared since the ride began to the two people sitting in front of her, who just like her, were more than happy to see the end of their long and tiring day of work, work, and more work. It was ironic really. All she's done in her life was work. First it started out with school work with which she was absolutely obsessed. She might not have admitted that to her family, but deep down she knew she was obsessing over her grades, and not only that but she also knew it wasn't really all that necessary as she made it sound to everyone around her. Sure she'd wished Derek to be more responsible and at least give his classes a try instead of just slacking his way through every single thing in his life. Unfortunately, despite all of her tries to get him to see "the light," he never did. He was too "cool" for that. Yeah, right. She obviously had a different definition of what was cool and what wasn't in her mind, because after all Derek and her have been two completely different people from the very first day they met. Actually the more she thought about it, the more she started believing that they were probably born that way and as they grew, they moved further and further apart on every single scale there ever was – morals, academics, and basically every single other thing that mattered.

However, she also had to admit that now things were a little bit different. It had been two years since they've both graduated from high school and after that, they were accepted to the University of Washington, or UW as everyone referred to it. Derek, of course, was accepted solely because of his athletic abilities while Casey… Well, Casey being Casey, she of course managed to throw the Admissions committee off their feet by her academic knowledge as everyone had expected, including Derek.

Expectations, expectations. Everyone she has ever known thought of her as extremely predictable. And in certain ways, she sure was. But then again, there was so much to her than ever met the eye and yet, she never really allowed anyone to see the other part of her that she knew how to keep hidden.

She let out a sigh as her gaze once again settled outside, half-heartedly watching little restaurants and shops pass by her in the huge Seattle city, her new hometown. She was now on her way to her apartment that she rented with her oh-so-dearest step-brother, Derek.

Derek. It's funny really. Just when she thought that Derek can't possibly surprise her anymore, he did it again. While at first all they've done is fight, fight, and fight right after moving into their apartment they ended up sharing with Emily and Sam, eventually it all started to change bit by bit. Of course, the fighting was still there, but strangely enough, something else started to develop. That something else being a weird kind of friendship as Derek started changing and being more understanding of her. But then again, who wouldn't change under their circumstances. They weren't exactly the most ordinary couple of step-siblings the world has known. They've shared secrets they couldn't share with anyone else, and that included the majority of the family.

It was the job that Casey and Derek shared that got him to straighten out his act. She was more surprised that anyone because she was terrified of the idea of working with him – again. After all, they've tried it before, and it certainly didn't go as she planned. Although, she had to admit that he came through and showed his soft side that only Marti has seen previously by quitting his job at Smelly Nellie's after she was fired. That was probably the sweetest thing he's ever done for her… at least up until their graduation.

Now everything was different. They worked together at Dolphin's Bank, or so everyone believed. Their family definitely freaked at the idea of the two of them working together again, remembering their work history. But Casey managed to convince everyone that everything is going fine, or maybe that's what she was trying to convince herself of when she'd first found out that her annoying step-brother would become her partner at work in addition to being a roommate. But as time showed, she really didn't need to be so freaked out by that idea, because surprisingly enough, when they had to, they could make a great team. But then again, there were those operative words "had to." At work, sure they managed to get along, but when they'd get home, they'd still be the same old Derek and Casey their parents had to get used to dealing with for there was no other way. That's why they had a weird kind of friendship. They could both be friends and get along, yet still find ways to argue about the tiniest little things that bugged them, well, mostly Casey.

But in any case, she had told her parents a while ago that there was no reason for anyone to worry because they weren't in any danger of any sort. Little did everyone know the life that Casey and Derek led. Or the secrets they kept for that matter.

For starters, it was Casey's father behind the wheel driving her and Derek back to their apartment, who by the way was seated in the passenger seat or rather, slouched in it, appearing almost dead if it wasn't for the rhythmic breathing. After all, you can't really drive a vehicle that has been absolutely crushed, totaled, and if that wasn't enough, drowned in the bottom of a lake, luckily without any casualties. Someone might automatically assume it was Derek's fault, and while that would be a part of the truth, there was definitely more to the story. Just like to the fact that her mom, George, Lizzie, and all of the other siblings and friends thought that the last time Casey saw her father was at that fiasco dinner that happened years ago. But no, that was obviously not the truth. After all, he's the driver, right? She must have seen him again.

Casey hated not being able to tell at least her mom the truth, but at the same time, she knew that wasn't an option. Maybe one day the moment of truth will come, but it would have to wait for at least a little bit.

It was only then that it hit her like a ton of bricks, causing her to sit up straight in her seat and give out a little yelp, automatically catching the attention of the two men sitting in front as they swirled their heads to see what the problem was. _Her mother! How could she forget? _She glanced at her watch only to confirm her beliefs. It was already 7:46 pm. It was a little too late already. Well, they should be able to make it to the apartment by 8:00 based on the familiar surroundings of the streets, but that didn't solve her other problem – Dad.

That's when Derek couldn't take the silence that has settled over the three of them any longer. It hasn't been that long since they've been on the road, maybe 20 minutes now, but still, he hated silence. He lived to crack jokes and puns and pranks. Basically, anything he wanted, he would do it and despite the years he's had to mature, that was probably never going to change in his life, maybe simply die down just a smidge. Looking up at a surprisingly hectic Casey, he finally spoke up, "What's with you?" He was tired obviously. Even his tone of voice spilled that for him. But he didn't really care. They were all exhausted and he wasn't up for another session of pretending just yet.

Casey looked up to meet his gaze, "It's almost 8 pm."

With that said, Derek was even more puzzled than a second ago. "Yeah, I know. We've been working overtime for the past few weeks. Our assignment, our job, remember?"

Casey brushed off his sarcasm as she peeked at her father, who seemed oblivious to their conversation as he was lost in his own thoughts. Then she continued as if he hadn't spoken, "It's Friday. The same Friday that we _invited_ our parents to come over and visit us for the first time in a year since summer started and our classes are over. Though clearly our job isn't as you so nicely pointed out and we've completely spaced out."

Now it was Derek's turn to be bummed out. His step-sister's words downed on him and the realization hit him as well, raising questions in his mind as his hand unconsciously ran through his even more messy hair than it is usually. Details, now there's one thing he was never good at. Well, at least not details like these ones.

After a few moments, Derek choked out his panicked questions, which caught Dennis's attention, "The whole family is coming when? At 8? What are we going to do? We don't have anything planned for them?"

Casey only shook her head in response before replying, "What worries me the most is Dad? How are we going to explain why my dad is driving us or where our car is?" After a slight pause, she added, "We are so in over our heads. I mean, sure we can say we've worked overtime and spaced out, but… we're still in over our heads."

"We'll come up with something. I could say I was in town for my business and stopped by you guys… Although it will be rather weird running into Nora again… and George." Dennis supplied, speaking up for the first time in a long time and somewhat relaxing the pair of siblings.

Ten minutes later as they pulled up the SUV and parked it in the parking lot next to the apartments that Casey and Derek rented, all three weren't all that surprised to see Nora, George, Lizzie, Edwin, and Marti standing outside their door, not looking extremely happy thanks to such a wonderful welcoming.

It was then that Dennis, Derek, and Casey took a deep breath and decided that there was no time like the present to face the music. It wasn't like they could avoid it any longer anyway. So they might as well do it now instead of an hour or so later, making their family even more pissed, hungry, and tired.

It was definitely going to be a long night, that's for sure.

And unfortunately for the three of them, Casey and Derek were too busy thinking about what they'll say and how they should behave with their parents to notice their attire in which they just left the SUV, or more specifically, the rings on their wedding fingers.

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Are you people confused yet? If yes, then sorry. That wasn't really my goal, but then again, in a way it kind of was. I know all of this probably sounds weird, but with the help of other chapters, everything will become easier to understand, instead of it being as clear as mud as it is right now. I was just setting the scene with this chapter. Kind of giving you the feel of what happened in the past few years, while at the same time hiding the most important elements and events around which this story will revolve. And I promise the next chapter will be far more interesting than this one.

What do you guys think? Please, review! You have no idea how much it'll mean to me. I've got to warn you though. I'm not very good with updates, meaning they're not going to be on regular basis. However, reviews will definitely encourage me to update as soon as I can. So please, REVIEW!


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